Saff Correspondent

Public Administration Adviser to the Prime Minister, Md Ismail Zabiullah sought increased assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in enhancing civil service capacity, creating employment opportunities, and advancing good governance.

He made the request during a meeting with UNDP Resident Representative to Bangladesh, Stefan Liller (Stephen Rodriques), at the Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka on Monday.

During the meeting, Zabiullah also urged the UNDP to support citizen-centric initiatives and civil service simplification processes in line with the election manifesto of the BNP.

Expressing satisfaction over UNDP's continuous support towards the country's development journey, the adviser noted that the UN agency has long been one of Bangladesh's most trusted development partners.

The UNDP delegation briefed the adviser on their ongoing activities in Bangladesh, particularly its partnership with the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to drive governance innovation, public sector reform, institutional strengthening, and citizen-first public service delivery.

In response, the UNDP representative reiterated the agency's commitment to supporting the government’s priority areas and reform agendas, particularly in public sector reform, governance innovation, and institutional capacity development.

The UNDP delegation included Deputy Resident Representative Sonali Dayaratne, Assistant Resident Representative Anwarul Haq, Senior Governance Specialist Tanveer Mahmud, and Mahmudul Hasan, Project Manager of UNDP Bangladesh's 'Strengthening Institutions, Policies and Services' (SIPS) project.

Director General of the PMO's Governance Innovation Unit, Dr. Delwar Hossain, was also present at the meeting.